The present disclosure relates to a blood analysis apparatus and a blood analysis method, and more particularly, to a blood analysis apparatus, and the like, for evaluating a quality of blood using a degradation process of hemoglobin in red blood cells as an index.
Blood products including red blood cells for a blood transfusion are necessary for clinical treatment. It is an important issue to realize long-term storage of blood to use limited blood resources effectively. Two metabolic substances, that is, ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and 2, 3-bisphosphoglyceric acid (2, 3-BPG) are involved in life-span and an oxygen transport function of red blood cells. Concentrations of these substances in blood are known to decrease rapidly during blood storage and have been used as an index to evaluate a quality of stored blood.
In relation to the present disclosure, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-508765 discloses a method and an apparatus for measuring characteristics of blood including hemoglobin (see also “A direct relationship between adenosine triphosphate-level and in vivo viability of erythrocytes.”, Nature, 1962, Vol. 194, Issue 4831, pp.877-878, and “Red blood cell function and blood storage.”, Vox Sanguinis, 2000, Vol.79, No.4, pp.191-197).